(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to canes used by those who need assistance in maintaining stability while walking.
(2) Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98.
Walking canes are well known to those with ordinary skill in the art. Walking canes from prior art include the ancient walking cane consisting of a single stick held in one hand and providing stability when the user places the distal end on the ground in the direction of travel so that the stick provides a third point of contact with the ground as the user moves. Modern walking canes can be more complex, with three or four legs on a foot assembly (U.S. Pat. No. 4,044,784), allow for an adjustment of staff length (U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,763), or telescoping canes for easy storage when not in use (U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,807).
Newer multiple-leg canes attempt to provide superior stabilization by providing more than one point of contact with the ground. With two or more contacts, the cane is less likely to twist or turn than when a single point of contact is maintained. However, the success of these canes is limited because the points of contact must change during the gait.
For example, a four-legged cane usually has only two of its legs in contact with the ground for most of a user's gait; the back two legs of a four-legged cane touch the ground when the user extends it out to take a step. As the user's center of gravity reaches the cane's contact points, all four legs are on the ground, and then as the user passes the contact points and before the user pulls up the cane and places it forward again, only the front two legs of the cane remain in contact with the ground. This creates a multiple-stage use of the cane that is less graceful than the use of a standard one-legged cane.
Another challenge for multiple-legged canes comes when the ground upon which the user is walking is uneven. If a user is walking on unimproved dirt or rock, a multi-leg cane may have only two or three legs touching the ground. Under such circumstances the user can be surprised by the lack of contact of one leg that creates in an unexpected lack of support and result with the user falling.
What is needed is a multi-legged cane that can, a) maintain multiple points of contact during the entirety of the user's gait, and b) easily self-adjust to changing ground surfaces.